CONSERVATIVE candidate Lindsey Hall launched her election campaign this week joined by home secretary Amber Rudd.

The art dealer and Abbey Road ward councillor was announced officially last Friday as the Conservatives’ candidate to challenge Karen Buck, the long-standing MP for Westminster North.

The West End Extra joined Ms Hall and Ms Rudd on a tour of shops in Clifton Road, St John’s Wood, on Tuesday.

Cllr Hall said lowering business rates was top of her list of priorities. She said: “I hope to get elected so I can go bat on the door of the Treasury and try to end this attitude that we are some kind of cash cow for the rest of the country.”

Other priorities included affordable housing so people did not have to do “horrible long commutes”, maintaining high standards of education and keeping streets clean with regular bin collections.

There has been much speculation about which way she voted in the EU Referendum but Cllr Hall told the West End Extra she was “ a very reluctant remainer”, adding: “My position has shifted. I am completely supportive of our government securing the best deal possible.”

Cllr Hall called Ms Buck a “fearsome adversary”, adding: “I happen to like her very much. She is a very good local MP. But it boils down to a simple choice between Jeremy Corbyn or Theresa May.”

The sentiment was echoed precisely by Ms Rudd who answered questions with the same stock answer. She said: “Well really it is about supporting local businesses. And I hope I’ve been able to reassure people and also point out when they vote on June 8 they are going to be making a choice between having the prime minister as Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn.”

When asked what she would say to the two-thirds of people in Westminster North who voted to remain in the EU, she said: “To those people I say we are leaving the European Union, but you want to make sure that you’ve got a prime minister and a government that can get the best deal for the UK… and when they think about who’s going to deliver that best deal, they have to think about if it’s going to be Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn.”

What people in St John’s Wood think…

Benjamin Donnadieu, who works at The Winery

“I understand the EU isn’t perfect but it needs to be reformed. “I know some people who voted for Brexit, but for them it wasn’t about immigration, it was about wanting to make your own laws. But now it seems to have changed. “I think it is a bit sad.”

Danny Allan, who works at Simon Warwick hair salon

“I like the direction Theresa May is going in. I do hope she will do more for the NHS as it is failing. We need to focus less on immigration and more on the NHS. That is my biggest concern. There’s not enough doctors, nurses, GPs. “Migrants should be welcome to work in Great Britain, not turned away.”

Huseyin Atasever, who works at Clifton Green fruit and veg shop

“I do not support Conservatives. I’m a socialist. I am going to support Jeremy Corbyn, I just trust him, I have known him from about 10 years ago. I hate Brexit. I never supported Brexit. In the future I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it’s not good.”

Nasir Khan, who works at Sheepdrove Organic Farm

“I pay £2,000 a year to park here. Those are the sort of basic issues people should be focusing on, not Brexit. For businesses here, the issues are parking, rates and rents. “All anyone is talking about is Brexit, but they should solve local issues first. Brexit doesn’t affect 70 per cent of people.”